The new indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract begins Sept. 27, with a 5-year base ordering period and potentially five, one-year options. The maximum potential value of this contract is $25 million...

Robert Pearlman

NASA issued a solicitation for a new ("Replacement") Headquarters Building last November as Phase 1A of its Central Campus Complex.

The Central Campus Complex project is KSC's plan for revitalizing the KSC Industrial Area by consolidating multiple facilities into a more compact campus style setting

The HQ Facility will be the first constructed within KSC’s Central Campus Complex.

LM-12

This Space KSCarticle on the redesign of the KSC Industrial Area includes a list of the buildings involved.

Headquarters Building (Bldg # M6-0399, approx 430,000 SF)

Central Instrumentation Facility (Bldg # M6-0342, approx 133,000 SF)

Base Operations Building (Bldg # M6-0339, approx 20,000 SF)

Electromagnetic Lab (Bldg # M6-0336, approx 9,500 SF)

Training Auditorium (Bldg # M7-0351, approx 9,500 SF)

Occupational Health Facility (Bldg # M6-0495, approx 18,000 SF)

Environmental Health Facility (Bldg # L7-1557, approx. 11,000 SF)

Industrial Area Support Building (Bldg # M6-0493, approx. 15,500 SF)

Technical Records Center (Bldg # M6-0489, approx. 14,100 SF).

Shared Services (approx. 60,000 SF) within the Industrial Area outside of the listed buildings.

From the KSC Spaceport News dated 14 October 2011:

The Central Campus Complex plan calls for construction of the new facilities and deconstruction of the old buildings to be done in six phases starting in 2013. The work is expected to take about 10 years to complete.

SpaceKSCBlog

NASA SpaceFlight had this recent article about the latest work that's part of the 21st Century Space Launch Complex.

There are links in the article to others they've written on the subject.

LM-12

The KSC Operations and Checkout Building is presently undergoing some major renovations. I wonder if the historic Apollo and shuttle suiting-up room will still be there after the current renovations to that facility are completed.

The north wing of the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building is undergoing a remodeling that will eventually remake the facility from the inside. The building, one of the first built at Kennedy, is tapped to host Lockheed Martin's Orion final assembly in the high bay.

Kennedy's Headquarters Building and the Central Instrumentation Facility, which are approaching their 50th birthday and showing signs of their age, are to be taken down during the next several years and replaced by a headquarters building that will consolidate all shared services and most administrative functions across the Industrial Area.

The new headquarters building is the cornerstone for the Central Campus consolidation. It will be built in two phases to accommodate all shared services and administrative office functions south and west of the current HQ building except for the Occupational Health Facility (which is scheduled for Phase 4).

A third follow-on phase will build a modern engineering and science laboratory building. The new building will enable a complete gut and renovate project for the south wing of the Operations and Checkout building similar to the current one on the north wing of the O&C.

LM-12

Sounds like a "complete gut" and renovate project for the south wing of the Operations and Checkout Building would include the Apollo suiting-up room.

Jim Behling

quote:Originally posted by LM-12:Sounds like a "complete gut" and renovate project for the south wing of the Operations and Checkout Building would include the Apollo suiting-up room.

It is just a room.

hlbjr

It may be "just a room" but I'd like to see it before it's demolished.

The Base Operations Building was demolished last week. It was located west of the KSC Headquarters Building in the KSC Industrial Area.

LM-12

This NASA news release dated yesterday says that the new KSC Headquarters building will be located north and east of the current Headquarters building.

North and east - is that right?

Media Invited to Groundbreaking for New Kennedy Space Center Headquarters

Media are invited to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the new NASA Kennedy Space Center headquarters building at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

The new headquarters building will be the keystone to the Central Campus makeover and will take place in several phases. Headquarters will be a seven-story, 200,000-square-foot structure that will consolidate all shared services and administrative office functions and will be located north and east of the current headquarters building.

The ceremony will be hosted by Kennedy director Bob Cabana and representatives from companies involved in the project, Kurt Hazen from Hensel Phelps and Steve Belflower from Hunton Brady. The ceremony will be held between the existing headquarters building and the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout building.

LM-12

Construction of the new headquarters building is underway.

Teams prepare to lay foundation of Kennedy Space Center's future

Behind the scenes at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, aerospace engineers are laying the foundation for the agency's new crewed space vehicles, the Orion crew module and the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket. In parallel, construction teams are hard at work preparing the foundation for the spaceport's new Central Campus.

Above: Measurements on a concrete test piling indicate it has been driven 90 feet into the ground at the construction site for the new Headquarters Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The existing Headquarters Building is visible in the background. CREDIT: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

To the untrained eye, the five-and-a-half-acre construction zone in the heart of Kennedy's Industrial Area looks more like an outdoor festival parking lot than the future home of a new, modern headquarters building.

But the site has seen a flurry of activity in the past six months. Teams have been hard at work clearing, grading, and installing stormwater pipes and other utilities in order to support the building's construction.

Employees who have been waiting to see the rise of the seven-story, energy-efficient headquarters will soon see the poured-concrete shell of the facility beginning to take shape.

"It's a visual thing," said Tom Wilczek, NASA's project manager for the effort, who oversees the budget and schedule, and works with the team on coordination between Kennedy Space Center, construction contractor Hensel Phelps, and architectural design firm HuntonBrady Architects of Orlando.

"Right now, people are wondering what's happening at the site. They don't see much going on. But that's how construction works. There's a lot of underground activity, including foundation pile installation," he explained.

Since the work began in mid-December 2014, efforts have been focused on horizontal site work. This included clearing the area of trees, excavation of unsuitable materials, soil compaction, and moving water in the form of underground stormwater pipes.

The next major milestone in the timeline is a significant one: 424 concrete piles will be driven into the ground to provide the support needed for the foundation. Each pile consists of two pieces that, when connected by mechanical splices, will measure 90 feet long. Piles will be clustered across the building's footprint to provide added strength for structural columns.

This part of the construction effort will take place at night, between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. The area will rock with a steady drum beat as the piles are driven into the Earth.

The massive piles are produced offsite and delivered to Kennedy. Several piles already have been driven into the ground at the site as a test. Wilczek expects all the piles to be in place this summer, and then the team will be ready to begin forming the foundation and floors.

"That's when we'll start seeing the building coming up," he said. "Ninety percent of the building is concrete, with a bit of structural steel. Since the tower and floors are all concrete, they'll form each level before moving on to the next level."

Above: Concrete pipes and test pilings are in place at the construction site for the new Headquarters Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. CREDIT: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Each floor could take up to a month and a half to complete. By the end of 2015, Wilczek estimates, the majority of the concrete structure of the building should be erected.

As the contractor progresses with the concrete floor construction, the exterior finishes of the building, including windows and exterior walls, will follow.

Due to the construction zone's location, reconfiguring vehicle and pedestrian traffic required some careful planning. Five dedicated trees were relocated to make way for the new building, presenting an additional challenge, as each one had to be carefully uprooted in order to preserve the root system. The trees were moved to the north side of the Operations Support Building II in Kennedy's Launch Complex 39 Area. New growth has appeared on the trees, indicating the transplantation was a success.

Once completed, the new headquarters building will house about 500 employees and anchor Kennedy's consolidated Central Campus.

Shrinking building footprints, increasing energy efficiency and focusing on long-term sustainability will reduce costs and free up resources Kennedy needs as we enter the next chapter in space exploration.

LM-12

The KSC Industrial Area will look very different when the the new Headquarters Building is completed, and the current HQ building (on right) is torn down.

dabolton

quote:Originally posted by LM-12:Sounds like a "complete gut" and renovate project for the south wing of the Operations and Checkout Building would include the Apollo suiting-up room.

Maybe they could move it to the Saturn V Building. Put the recliners back in, etc.